The Puffer Forum

It´s crayfish season in Norway which means Freddy has an abundant supply of large freshwater crayfish. He usually munches even the largest crayfish in seconds with no problems but one crawdad was able to leave some scars on Freddy´s chin. Is this harmful to Freddy or is it a natural part of a Fahaka´s life? Pictures attached of the wound..

The wounds don't appear infected or open so I wouldn't worry about it, monitor it over the next few days and dose with melafix if it seems infected. A suggestion I have is to give a few more water changes over the next few days to keep the water quality pristine. If you worry about your puffer remove claws before feeding.

Typical battle scars. You could remove the large claws & toss them for him to munch on. In addition to puffykid's suggestions, you could add Melafix to his tank, to aid in fast healing with less scaring.

thanks for your responses! THe wound is healing quickly so I assume this is just the way of life for Freddy. It almost looks like his elastic skin is designed for for such pinches as it seems very difficult to penetrate through... it looks like the crayfish hangs on to flexible rubber with no real grip at all until it lets go..

I will be doing one more water change a week due to more frequent live feeding. I will look for melafix at the lfs just in case I need it someday. THe new picture attached also suggests he should be able to learn from prior mistakes (Freddy shows how to remove the claws before munching the whole thing).

Smart puffer, he learns quick!

having seen pictures of what live pinkies can do to snakes..i'd be very hesitant to add live armoured and fully weaponed food to any tank..

Master of Puffers wrote:having seen pictures of what live pinkies can do to snakes..i'd be very hesitant to add live armoured and fully weaponed food to any tank..

I feed my snake live mice. im scared every time but it wont eat anything else. I have read on stunning the mouse but idk if I could do that and have a clean conscience.